Will Rahul Gandhi dent a confident BSP?

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PMship not on Rahul's mind, says Priyanka

Becoming Prime Minister was not the “central focus” of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s politics, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Sunday, adding that PM Manmohan Singh was “extremely good” and the question of change of guard did not arise at the moment.

Priyanka also said she would be happier if Rahul Gandhi led a “normal life”.

“I am not interested in his becoming Prime Minister. I will be happy if he lives a normal life,” said Priyanka while replying to a question from Hindustan Times in Amethi. “We also keep hearing he will take over as party president. He is bringing in democracy in the Congress youth organisation. This will have an impact on the politics of the nation. Rahul is just doing his work,” she said.
Senior ministers in UPA 1 and UPA 2 had expressed the view that Rahul Gandhi will make a good PM.
Asked whether she would join active politics, Priyanka said, “If I ever decide to join politics, you will know.”
Priyanka also praised Manmohan Singh. “We are fortunate to have an honest PM.”
Priyanka stopped for a while to speak to mediapersons before addressing a public rally at Simrauta here.
She addressed about 20 public meetings on the third day of her election campaign, covering nearly 150 km and making about 70 stops to reach the remote corners of the Tiloi assembly segment of Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi.
Priyanka also defended Union home minister P Chidambaram, saying, “He has an onerous responsibility towards the country. I feel sad that he had to waste time on such issues (2G).”

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Give us five yrs, we will undo the damage of 22 yrs: Rahul

Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, wearing a black sweater, and looking only slightly tired from what must have been a hectic day of campaigning, arrived to a rockstar’s reception as he rode on his minibus into an election rally – his fourth for the day – in Barabanki district.
Arriving almost three hours after schedule, Rahul Gandhi‘s last stop was a much bigger rally in Dariyabad — the assembly constituency being contested by Rakesh Verma, son of Gonda Congress MP and Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma, a key strategist for the Congress in the region.
Barabanki is one of the 10 districts set to go to polls in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on 8 February. The Congress has a tough battle to fight in these 10 districts; it only won 3 of the 55 constituencies last time.
Having arrived to rousing welcome to the rally of about 5,000 people, Rahul Gandhi was joined on stage by Barabanki Lok Sabha member PL Punia, Union Minister Beni Prasad, a prominent Congress politician, Salim Iqbal Shervani – representing the respectively the Dalit, Kurmi and Muslim face of the party.

"Till your leaders don’t talk to you, come to your houses, eat with you and drink from your well, UP will not change." Naresh Sharma/Firstpost

Referring to Beni Prasad as ‘babuji‘, the party workers wearing Congress party flags and hats seemed to swear by his ability to win elections. “The Congress candidates have been handpicked by babuji. The Kurmi vote is guaranteed to him. The BSP has no chance this time,” said first-time voter and youth Congress member Anuj Kumar Verma.
Telling the crowd that BJP’s ‘India Shining’ campaign was inspired by a line borrowed from a television commercial, Rahul Gandhi credited the Congress victory in 2004 and in 2009 to engaging with the poor and the dispossessed.
He didn’t desist from his, by now familiar, attack on the BSP. “The elephant has eaten up the money we sent from the Centre for the poor, the farmers, and the labourers… After the people of UP punctured the cycle, (referring to the Samajwadi Party whose party symbol is the cycle) in 2007, the elephant came. Now this elephant eats the money of the poor.”
Taking a shot at Samajwadi Party, he said, “On one hand, you have the cycle and on the other there is the elephant. For the last 22 years, sometimes it is the elephant which eats money or it is the cycle that gets punctured.”
Having emphasised the Congress’ role in everything from nationalisation of banks to NREGA to right to education to the package for Bundelkand, he appealed to the crowd to give Congress a chance in UP. “I am not here to make promises. UP needs development. You have the power. Give us five years. You’ve given 22 years to these people. We will change this place.”
Concluding his speech with an emotional appeal he said, “Till your leaders don’t talk to you, come to your houses, eat with you and drink from your well, UP will not change. I have come here today to stand with you, to understand you, to fight with you. Rahul Gandhi will not make 50 promises but will fight with you. I will not stand back till the government of the poor doesn’t come to power.”

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Mayawati government stole cash from poor in UP, says Rahul Gandhi

Rahul gandhi accused UP CM Mayawati of stealing the money given by the Centre for the poor, as he embarked on a five-day public contact tour of the poll-bound state on Tuesday.

He said the CBI would expose the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission scam.

"We had sent money for the poor. It was not for Mayawati or (former family welfare minister Babu Singh) Kushwaha. An inquiry is on and we will soon know who parked how much," Rahul said at a public meeting in the Ramnagar assembly constituency of Barabanki, from where he started the tour. "Kushwaha now claims his life is in danger from his own colleagues," the Congress general secretary added.

Rahul drew a moderate crowd at Ramnagar's Government Inter College and received a warm reception at the Rani Bagh Ground in Kaiserganj, Bahraich. His third and last public meeting of the day at the Ramlila Ground was not very encouraging.


Trying to clarify his controversial statement of November 14 that the people of UP beg in Maharashtra, he said: "The state is suffering not only because of caste politics but also because of the 'studio politicians'. (When) I said in a meeting in Phulpur that the people of UP go to Mumbai and Delhi in search of job and beg there, these 'studio politicians' created an unnecessary hue and cry on television."

He added: "The truth is that these politicians hate the poor. They never share meals with them or drink water from their wells. They don't open their car window to ask a begging child where he/she hails from. I do all that. I feel bad to know they hail from UP."

Warning the crowd, Rahul said: "You don't know what conspiracy is going on against you and how you have been pushed towards beggary. You have been deprived of your basic rights. The only way to bring UP to the path of growth is to vote for the Congress."

Rahul acknowledged that he could not claim to "know poverty". "I am not in a position to claim that I understand poverty. But we fall sick after drinking dirty water. This is how I try to see and understand it," he said.

As Rahul spoke, it became clear that the Congress is not only eyeing the ruling BSP's Dalit and Brahmin votebank, but also wooing the Muslims and OBCs, who support the SP.

He alleged that it was a government of criminals during the SP's rule, and Mail Today, New Delhi, Wednesday, November 23, 2011 NEWS 3 'Maya govt stole cash from poor' Rahul Gandhi starts five-day public contact tour in Uttar Pradesh People reach out to Rahul during his Jan Sampark Yatra in Bahraich on Tuesday. now there was a corrupt BSP government. "I feel angry and want to change the trend. Why don't you feel angry at the mess?" he asked.


More than 70 per cent weavers in the state are Muslims. Rahul said: "We have announced a loan waiver for the weavers. We have also decided to give them loans at cheaper interest rates."

The road to success may not, however, be smooth for the Congress as its leaders are clearly divided. The supporters of Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma and national SC commission chairman P.L. Punia clashed in Bahraich without any known reason. Sources said Verma and Punia were trying to sideline each other.

Violence over black flag

Congressmen thrashed SP workers at the Rani Bagh Ground in Kaiserganj after they showed Rahul a black flag. On November 14, Congress leaders had beaten up the SP's Abhishek Yadav for a similar act in Phulpur. SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav said: "Our workers were assaulted in Phulpur and Bahraich. This is how the Congress wants to contest the polls. The people will give it a fitting reply."

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Rahul unaware of Indian history: RSS

Expressing shock over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks that radicalised Hindu groups could pose a "bigger threat" to India than the LeT, RSS on Tuesday said the statement indicated his lack of understanding of Indian history.

"The remarks of the Congress general secretary prove that he is totally unaware of the history of Hindutva as well as the concept of nationalism," Sangh mouthpiece 'Panchjanya' said in its editorial titled 'Think before you speak Rahul'.
"Will the Congress, which considers Rahul Gandhi as its future and the future Prime Minister, be able to protect its very base by relying on his ignorance. The electorate of Bihar has already given its reply," it said.
Such statements would not only weaken the nation's fight against "jehadi terrorism" but also encourage it.
"Some of the documents released by Wikileaks exposed the Congress policy of Muslim appeasement. But everyone is shocked at the anti-Hindutva mentality of Rahul," the editorial said, adding that earlier also, Rahul had compared SIMI with RSS.

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Rahul travels general class to get ‘migrant experience’

Rahul Gandhi undertook an unpublicised train journey in the ordinary sleeper class from Gorakhpur to Mumbai 10 days ago. His mission was to acclimatise himself with the problems of the people who migrate to the metropolis in search of livelihood.

“The Congress general secretary landed at Gorakhpur from a special plane from Bihar and boarded the 2451 Gorakhpur-Lokmanya Tilak superfast express which starts from there in the night,” Congress sources here said. Gandhi, who had reservation in the sleeper class, preferred the general compartment and spent almost 36 hours talking with the common people migrating to Mumbai from eastern districts of the state in search of livelihood, they said. The sources said the main objective of Rahul’s journey was to meet the migrants, youths and unemployed and get to know about their dreams and aspirations. He talked at length with those undertaking the journey for the first time and enquired about the experience of others who had been there earlier, sources said.

The Congress general secretary got off from the train in Mumbai on October 20, the sources said.

Meanwhile when asked, ADG law and order, Brij Lal said the state police was not informed about the programme of the Congress leader. “The SPG extending security did not apprise the state police about the programme and we only know that he took the train from Gorakhpur railway station and traveled in the sleeper class,” he said.

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